]]>Celtics 96, Raptors 109 – Box
The Raptors snap a four-game losing and thank the heavens for that because if they had lost to the Celtics, Armageddon was next.

The Celtics are always a tough game because they play hard. It’s a credit to their coach that he can get a team that’s destined for a lottery play with this sort of effort despite the depleting trades they’ve made. Don’t get me wrong, I still hate the Celtics, their fans, their city, their weather, and every other sports team within a 100 mile radius of their arena. Just thought I’d give Brad Stevens due respect, because if you’re front-office tanking, he’s the perfect coach.

After another poor start marred by permeable defense, the Raptors ended up straitening things out midway through the second and ended up cruising against a Celtics squad that was taken to OT by Indiana the night before. This was a game that would mean a lot more if lost but not so much if won, so chalk this one up in the “job done, let’s move on” category. Powered by the three-pointer, a 12-0 run towards the end of the second and a 17-4 run in the middle of the third is what doomed the Celtics, who if you’ve watched even a little of this season know that are prone to offensive droughts like few other teams. The Raptors were up by 20 in the third making the fourth a a formality since the Celtics, despite gas being pretty cheap, were very low on it.

You can check the Quick Reaction and find out that James Johnson – starting in place of Landry Fields – was superb in this one and used his size against the smaller Celtic wings to power his way to the basket, and guarded Avery Bradley limiting him to 6-15 shooting. Tyler Hansbrough’s cameo, despite appearing in the box score as an 0-3, was something I felt increased the intensity for the Raptors after another sluggish start. Any time someone bails out bad offense by keeping the ball alive and getting the offensive board earns my respect, so Tyler’s good there.

Lowry on JJ

“He covers up a lot of mistakes. He covers a lot of floor, a lot of ground. His effort has been unbelievable this season and we need him to keep it up. We love his energy, we love his enthusiastic nature and what he brings to the table.”

– Kyle Lowry

The Raptors had 20 second chance points (to the Celtics’ 13), out-painted them 54-42, and were a +5 on the glass. If you put up those kinds of numbers you can get away with shaky guard shooting, as the Raptors did – Lowry, Vasquez, and Williams were a combined 15-39 for 38%. The rest of the team was 50%, and by rest I mainly mean Jonas Valanciunas (7-11, 15 points), James Johnson (7-12, 15 points), Amir Johnson (6-10, 15 points), and Patrick Patterson (4-7, 10 points).

You can’t ready much from a game like this, given the opponent and their circumstance, though a couple trends emerged that are worth a mention and might be something that tickles Dwane Casey going forward.

In the midst of all the talk about going small, getting murdered on the boards, and shooting aggravating long jumpers, Casey may have stumbled upon a lineup that may be more sustainable. I’m referring to the front-court of James Johnson, Patrick Patterson, and Jonas Valanciunas, featured in the second and third quarters where the Raptors were a huge plus.

I like it for a few reasons. First, you get defense at the three through Johnson, who doesn’t neglect rebounding, provides a post-up game and does this more consistently than Ross. You lose out on the three-point shooting Ross brings, but there’s enough of that with whoever the two guards are on the floor. Second, it keeps Jonas Valanciunas on the court as a rebounder, and if he does come out to help, Johnson or Patterson are mobile enough to make a rotation down low, much more so than when Casey’s got three guards out there or when the crocked Amir Johnson is playing.

Third, having Valanciunas and Johnson on the court relieves some of the pressure of rebounding from Patterson, who can be more engaged on playing defense rather than having half a mind on boxing out midway through every possession. Fourth, when the guards do inevitably jack up shots, there’s increased rebounding on the floor to get offensive rebounds. Fifth, there’s enough offense in those three that you’re not solely dependent on guard scoring.

The key component in all this is that Jonas Valanciunas is on the floor. The Raptors usually throw him a couple bones early and he executes a few post-ups, and when the pace of the game increases, Casey goes away from him. In this game he stuck with him which was surprising because Valanciunas didn’t fare well in his early possessions, so credit to Casey for not only persisting, but featuring him on offense way more than he has been all season. He had post-ups, ran a side pick ‘n roll, was used as a passer in the high post, played some give-and-go, and even got this to work. Naturally, he was more inclined to play defense, banged on the glass and played big all game, compensating for that poor guard shooting.

Casey on D

“I thought our defensive mojo was back. I saw guys moving their feet, cracking down, rebounding, doing the things we needed to do with activity and anticipation.”

– Dwane Casey

I realize it’s the Celtics who feature Tyler Zeller and Jared Sullinger, so again, the opponent isn’t great. That doesn’t render the idea of having a bigger front court out there void, and using your big man a lot more, not just because it improves the court balance but because, you know, he’s actually not that bad of an offensive option if you hone him a little.

This win shouldn’t paper over the cracks because the Raptors still cannot defend anyone (check out this next level over-helping). They’re very prone to guards getting in the lane because on high screens we’re not good at hedging, preventing the guard from turning on the screen, stopping the pass back to the big, or sagging back and challenging the drives. I’d say the Raptors are a 3/10 in every single category and their de facto approach on every possession is to collapse, help, and rotate/close-out. Against a good outside shooting team that is suicide, and fortunately the Celtics only shot 6-18 from three.

To their credit, the Raptors do respect the scouting reports and play individuals as per the book (e.g., sagging off Bradley, playing Sullinger to go right), it’s just that when the opposition takes a mind to getting to the rim, there’s little the Raptors defense has been able to do to stop them.

Somewhat random note here on Patrick Patterson who had a productive stint against Brandon Bass. Last year with the Raptors 30% of his shots were threes, and we saw a more well-rounded offensive game where he read the action and dropped down for shorter jumpers after his man had gone over to help. This season, 53% of his shots are threes. That is a very dramatic shift in his use, and though I don’t particularly like it, he’s backed it up by upping his three-point percentage from 41% to 45%. So, yeah…

Up next it’s the Pistons on Monday who have won 8 of their last 9 without Josh Smith. It’s a game that has quickly gone from one where the Raptors are expected to win, to one where a win would do well to regain some lost confidence.

]]>http://www.raptorsrepublic.com/2015/01/11/celtics-post-game/feed/28Spirited Raptors Grind Out Win in Boston: A Visual Journeyhttp://www.raptorsrepublic.com/2014/11/06/spirited-raptors-grind-win-boston-visual-journey/
http://www.raptorsrepublic.com/2014/11/06/spirited-raptors-grind-win-boston-visual-journey/#commentsThu, 06 Nov 2014 14:00:00 +0000http://www.raptorsrepublic.com/?p=47850The Toronto Raptors were out-rebounded 55-24 but Kyle Lowry's 35 point helped overcome that and much more in a 110-107 road win against the Boston Celtics.

]]>Raptors 110, C**tics 107 – Box
There are some games where if you lose the sky is falling, and if you win, there’s little celebration because that’s what you were supposed to do. This was that kind of a game, albeit with high end-to-end drama.

The creaky defense that has been giving way was at the forefront in Boston, with the Celtics starting a whopping 9-9 from the field. Jared Sullinger and Kelly Olynyk were man-handling Patrick Patterson and Tyler Hansbrough in the paint, and the early rebounding discrepancies were only slightly less embarrassing than the 79% the Celtics shot in the first quarter (check out a Celtic grab a rebound with four Raptors standing around). The defense was a shambles with no coverage underneath, bizarre matchups presented to the Celtics right from the start of the set, and wildly unorganized rotations that yielded three-point shots which the home team was draining.

Here’s an early harbinger where there is no plan for providing help underneath. Not having Jonas Valanciunas and Amir Johnson hurts, yet that’s not an excuse for this level of breakdown this early in a game:

Another problem was captured in this frame, where Jeff Green is left wide open due to a baseline trap, with Hansbrough being tasked with a rotation that he’s extremely slow to make, and something he’s not used to doing:

Finally, to give you a taste of how poor the defense was, I’d like to point out two examples. First, in transition, the Raptors did not check their man, or communicate about Celtics leaking right after the shot. The example below has Kelly Olynyk beating everyone down the floor for an easy two after a missed shot.

And here’s the absolute worst defensive possession I’ve seen this year. It’s got Lou Williams guarding Jared Sullinger for some reason, and then the Raptors conceding an offensive rebound for a Boston three.

This was the kind of start that the Raptors had, and not surprisingly they were getting punished. The Celitcs backcourt likes to press and attack, they’re built for that kind of basketball and the Raptors obliged by taking quick one-on-one shots which gave the Celtics even more incentive to push the tempo.

They were up by as many as 16 in the first half, and it would have been more if it weren’t for DeRozan scoring some early buckets preventing 6-2 runs from becoming 8-0 runs. He was being covered by Jeff Green, making it now official that opposing teams prefer putting taller guys with good reach on him. Credit to DeRozan, he didn’t turn the ball over and took shots which you have to consider are high percentage for him. Yes, they’re jumpers, but they’re jumpers that will be his bread-and-butter when it’s all said and done. Learn to live with him as long as he’s mixing it up with his drives (5-6 FT).

Two Raptors helped make a dent in the second quarter: Kyle Lowry and Lou Williams. Lowry had 17 in the first half, including this massive three which quelled the tide. Williams, who saw himself playing the point instead of the ineffective Vasquez, added an element of stolidity which slowed the game down and allowed the Raptors to operate methodically instead of in a sense of panic, where the only thing to look forward to was the next wave of Boston attack.

As the steady offense lent confidence to a defense whose unlikely saviours became foot-soldiers like James Johnson (great dunk) and Chuck Hayes, the big comeback was almost made complete by halftime with Patterson draining this three in transition. A note on Patterson – he had some issues guarding Sullinger in the block, and even Olynyk at times, but unlike Ross, he provided enough offensive punch to warrant court time and played good defense on the final possession of the game.

I couldn’t understand why Dwane Casey even attempted to matchup Grevis Vasquez with Rajon Rondo, the latter was torching the former and it was entirely predictable. This was a very negative matchup for the Raptors, not just because Rondo was blowing by Vasquez, but because it fractured the already fragile Raptors defense, resulting in chaos. With little offensive output from the fledgling Terrence Ross who Jeff Green was eating alive, the last thing the Raptors could afford was giving up easy baskets and that’s what the matchup enabled the Celtics to do.

A three-point halftime deficit was a blessing, and the Raptors had to have felt that they’d been let off the hook.

James Johnson permanently replaced Ross in the third quarter because Jeff Green was having a picnic with him. There’s a moment of frustration for Ross that the camera was able to catch right before he was benched. The current problems with Ross’s play are as follows:

He stop short on his drives and tends to either go for the floater, a leaner, or a pull-up – none of which he is particularly good at. Smarter thing to do is to just pull a DeRozan and try to get fouled. Go from there.

Defensively, he struggles against players his size or bigger. Not because he’s a terrible defender, but because he’s not a strong one. He gets pushed, stuck on peoples hips, and is unable to recover.

His three-point shot isn’t falling at a high enough clip for Casey to live with his defense.

The comeback was on in full force in the third, with Kyle Lowry leading the charge and DeRozan doing his thing. The decision-making on offense improved and the Raptors were giving what the aggressive Celtics defense was conceding, rather than shooting their way against a set defense. This play where Lowry realizes that he doesn’t have numbers, pulls back, waits for DeRozan bursting down the channel and laying it off is a perfect example of the smarter basketball the Raptors played in the second half:

The spark the aforementioned James Johnson provided was also critical. His perimeter pressure paid of and directly resulted in points on multiple occasions, the best example of which was this score for Lowry:

The icing on the third quarter was provided by our second-quarter hero, Lou Williams, who the Raptors cleared out for against Evan Turner to fantastic effect. The Raptors comeback was complete and they had reclaimed the lead after three quarters, which felt like an eternity ago from when they were up 2-0.

This was always going to come down to defense and clutch playmaking, both of which the Raptors weren’t short of in the fourth. The Celtics continued to dominate the glass and ended the game with a ridiculous 55-24 advantage, which I understand to some degree since two of the Raptors’ best rebounders were out, but still, 31 boards? It’s mind-boggling.

The defense picked up and Lou Williams reading the play and playing the passing lane early in the fourth set the tone. After that, it was more of James Johnson pressure leading to points, and finally Kyle Lowry stepping up on both ends – his charge here galvanized the team and gave them that extra burst of energy needed to finish off a game on a back-to-back:

Some credit needs to be given to Dwane Casey for managing his star players’ minutes over the back-to-back/3-in-4. Lowry and DeRozan were limited to 31 minutes apiece against the Thunder, which helped them play 36 and 40, respectively, last night.

I have to pause and give some credit to Chuck Hayes, he was the most effective in stopping Jared Sullinger. He battled him for position instead of settling for playing face-up defense, and bodied him in a way that Patterson and Hansbrough didn’t. He wore Sullinger down just enough that his shots started front-rimming and he didn’t have the energy to attack the offensive glass on some key possessions where the Raptors secured a rare defensive rebound.

The Celtics remained within a shout because of their three-point shooting and ended up tying the game after the Raptors had gone up by 8, and with the game tied, a statement was made:

This was a perfect play and symbolized just what the second half was all about. Defense first and aggressive on offense. The whole “Lowry vs Smart” thing was put to bed on this decisive play, and DeRozan’s raw emotion after the thunderous dunk echoed both, relief and joy. The Raptors tandem had delivered. However, this was Kyle Lowry’s night, and it was only fitting that he alone came out for the encore to ice the game and a 35-point (12-17 FG) night:

Let’s also not overlook the defense played on the last possession. I was nervous about this given how the Raptors were dropping back against driving guards, allowing kick backs to the top of the key for open threes. This time the pressure on the ball was good, the catch-point was further away, and Patterson did well to defend without fouling.

Did the Raptors play a great game? Absolutely not. They’re still finding their way on defense, integrating their reformed bench, and compensating for two missing starters. They were obliterated on the boards and once again gave up 50%+ shooting. Their saving grace turned out to be committing only 7 turnovers, and forcing 27 which led to 28 points. The Celtics backcourt are equally aggressive on offense as they are on defense, which cost them because you can’t go at a 100% clip all the time.

In my years of watching basketball, there are some things I never do and one of them is complaining about a road win on a back-to-back. You take those any chance you get. This Raptors unit may not yet have the consistency and chemistry it showed last year, but one quality has already shined through: when they’re down, they’re not out. There’s a spirit in them that believes no deficit is too large, and as a supporter watching, you just feel that there’s enough in there that you don’t ever want to change the channel.

]]>http://www.raptorsrepublic.com/2014/11/06/spirited-raptors-grind-win-boston-visual-journey/feed/48List of Raptors Worst Rebounding Gameshttp://www.raptorsrepublic.com/2014/11/06/list-raptors-worst-rebounding-games/
http://www.raptorsrepublic.com/2014/11/06/list-raptors-worst-rebounding-games/#commentsThu, 06 Nov 2014 13:30:00 +0000http://www.raptorsrepublic.com/?p=47864A list of the worst rebounding performances for the Toronto Raptors, and how they fared in them.

]]>The Raptors were out-rebounded by 31 on Wednesday night in Boston which was their worst margin ever. Here’s a list of games where the Raptors have been out-rebounded by 20 or more. In total, there’s been 25 such games, in which the Raptors are 5-20.

]]>The Raptors face a pesky Celtics team tonight in Boston. The Raps handled their business last season against the Celtics, going 3-1. This year’s group appears to be a much tougher matchup with the return of Rajon Rondo and additions such as Marcus Thorton and Marcus Smart fortifying their second unit.

Defensive Woes: 109 points allows per game — 29th in the league. Defensive rating 109.4 — 23rd overall. They’ve protected the rim better than expected so far. Opponents are shooting 53.2% at the rim, good for 15th in the league.

Bring your running shoes: 99.7 pace — 2nd highest in the league.

Excellent ball movement: 2nd in assists per game, 3rd in points created by assists per game and 1st in assist opportunities per game.

Keys to success for Toronto:

Win the free throw battle: This should be a lopsided matchup as Toronto averages the 2nd most free throw attempts per game and Boston averages the 2nd least FTA per game.

Protect the ball: The Raptors’ excellent ball protection, a league low 9.8 turnovers a game, will be put to the test tonight. Boston has forced the 5th most turnovers and the 4th most steals per game so far this season.

Transition defense: 19.4% of Boston’s baskets come off of fast breaks. This percentage is second only to Golden State.

Protect the paint: Boston is among the shortest teams in the league and so far they’ve had their shot blocked more times per game than any team in the NBA. Nevertheless, the Celtics score a league high 51.9% of their points in the paint.

Box Out: Boston is 2nd best offensive rebounding team in the league so far.

Break out of the three-point slump!: Toronto has been collectively terrible from beyond the arc so far this season, ranking 28th in 3 point percentage at 25.5%. The good news for the Raptors is that Boston is allowing the highest 3-point field goal percentage in the league at 42.3%.

Look for Boston to come out aggressively after falling behind big in the first half of each of their two losses. Don’t be surprised to see Brad Stevens employ a havoc wreaking three-guard lineup consisting of Avery Bradley, Rondo and Marcus Smart in spurts throughout the game. The Raptors are still very much the favorites in this one but a win on the road in the tail end of a back-to-back will not come easily. What’s more, most fans agree that something has been just a little bit off with the Raps so far this season, despite the 3-1 start. If the Raptors are successful in forcing Boston into outside shots, getting back on D and regaining the three-point shooting prowess they showed last season, then they should improve to 4-1.

Amir Johnson, PF20 MIN | 2-5 FG | 0-0 FT | 5 REB | 0 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 4 PTS | +1As the line suggests, a non-descript night from Amir. Had some good passes from the post that could have been assists, but the jumpers didn’t fall. Of all the Raptors, Johnson was the only one with solid pick and roll defence tonight.

Terrence Ross, SF30 MIN | 6-14 FG | 0-0 FT | 5 REB | 1 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 12 PTS | -7Yeah, this scoreline isn’t pretty and it’s actually a friendly representation of his game. Questionable pull-up jumpers in the halfcourt were all too common. Granted, he had to play in some weird line-ups because DeMar didn’t play but it’s becoming clear that Ross should not be relied on to handle the ball.

I’ll be surprised if a Raptors video co-ordinator isn’t cutting tape right now of Ross dribbling into traps on the baseline.

Bruno Caboclo, SF13 MIN | 0-4 FG | 0-0 FT | 3 REB | 0 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 0 PTS | +9His one steal was a strictly because of wingspan. Bruno’s man back cut on him, and Bruno threw his arms up without really knowing where the ball was going and ended up with it. Seeing him in the starting line-up graphic was the highlight of his night.

According to Wolstat, Caboclo dribbled into a corner and the bench asked “Where’s he going?”

Jonas Valanciunas, C18 MIN | 3-6 FG | 1-2 FT | 4 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 2 TO | 7 PTS | -2The squad was feeding him post-ups in the third and JV made mostly good decisions. His passing out of the post was crisp, and outside of one bad attempt, the kid looks like he could be a decent post-up option.

Didn’t see much outlet passing from rebounds, but if the Raptors want to push the ball, they’ll need Jonas to improve that aspect of his game.

Patrick Patterson, PF28 MIN | 3-7 FG | 5-6 FT | 3 REB | 1 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 4 TO | 12 PTS | +2Nothing seemed to be drawn up for Patterson tonight. Maybe that’s by design or just by chance, but Patterson’s shots came on transition looks. He was also hampered by weird line-ups and was forced to play in situations we won’t often see in the regular season.

Jordan Hamilton, SF21 MIN | 6-8 FG | 2-2 FT | 2 REB | 3 AST | 3 STL | 0 BLK | 2 TO | 16 PTS | +8If Hamilton can consistently provide that kind of performance, he is the 15th man. His cuts were smart, his defence is fine and he made good decisions with limited touches. Hamilton seemed to spear a Celtic at one point, which probably endeared him to many Raptor faithful. Ujiri and Casey have a tough decision at the 15 spot.

Louis Williams, SG21 MIN | 4-11 FG | 6-7 FT | 2 REB | 2 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 15 PTS | +5Basketball Twitter is falling in love with Lou again, and that was before that pull-up three. He has bounce, he can get to the net and draw contact. Some bad pull-ups, but in a game lacking offensive weapons for the Raptors, we should look past that. It is nice to have a player coming off the bench that could just destroy young defenders.

Landry Fields, SG15 MIN | 1-1 FG | 0-0 FT | 3 REB | 3 AST | 2 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 2 PTS | -6Landry’s brain in another player’s body would be a dream come true. The guy got a basket tonight off a nice floater, but you can’t watch him play without wondering what could have been if that nerve injury didn’t happen.

Dwane Casey
Maybe it’s preseason, but Casey let two quarters end without calling a timeout to make a play out of the final possession. He also drew up a Lou Williams pull-up three at the end of the game.

Casey wasn’t thrilled with the performance, but the Celtics played their starters a ton.

Three Things We Saw

Marcus Smart is damn good on the ball. Vasquez was baited into a dumb turnover where Smart reached out and just took the ball away. He had a number of poke aways while also irritating opposing point guards. Not thrilled to play against him for the next few years.

We didn’t see a lot of the court because of the low camera angle. Get us to the regular season, please.

]]>http://www.raptorsrepublic.com/2014/10/15/gif-lou-williams-hits-game-winning-three-buzzer/feed/8[GIF] Terrence Ross Throws it Down on the Break with Authority (Plus all the GIFs)http://www.raptorsrepublic.com/2014/10/15/gif-terrence-ross-throws-break-authority/
http://www.raptorsrepublic.com/2014/10/15/gif-terrence-ross-throws-break-authority/#commentsWed, 15 Oct 2014 23:57:50 +0000http://www.raptorsrepublic.com/?p=47347Terrence Ross gets it from Lowry and throws it down against the Celtics the Raptors are up early. Check the box score for the latest. Bonus GIFs Kyle Lowry dribbles through entire Celtics roster for the score: Jordan Hamilton with the move Terrence Ross elevates for the alley-oop slam Great commitment! Jonas continues to set... Read more »

]]>http://www.raptorsrepublic.com/2014/10/15/gif-terrence-ross-throws-break-authority/feed/10Gameday: Raptors at Celtics (again)http://www.raptorsrepublic.com/2014/10/15/gameday-raptors-celtics-2/
http://www.raptorsrepublic.com/2014/10/15/gameday-raptors-celtics-2/#commentsWed, 15 Oct 2014 13:00:05 +0000http://www.raptorsrepublic.com/?p=47331The Confessions pt. II to last Friday’s Burn Due to sloppy scheduling on my part, the responsibility of writing this Raptors vs. Celtics preview has once again fallen upon yours truly. You may recall (but probably not) that I wrote the preview for their earlier match-up, in which the Raptors won 116-109. In the interest... Read more »

Due to sloppy scheduling on my part, the responsibility of writing this Raptors vs. Celtics preview has once again fallen upon yours truly. You may recall (but probably not) that I wrote the preview for their earlier match-up, in which the Raptors won 116-109. In the interest of not double-dipping on the same content, I’ll direct you to our coverage from last week’s game.

Instead, allow me to use this space to opine on three impressions I came away with after watching the Celtics lose in the ACC last week.

Brad Stevens never stops coaching

Watching the game last Friday, I was struck by Boston head coach Brad Stevens’s commitment to coaching.

Here’s an example: the Celtics were trailing by nine points with a minute left in the fourth quarter, but instead of letting the inevitable play out, Stevens burned a timeout to draw up a play. He did that once more 16 seconds later with the Celtics down seven. I booed at the time, hoping for a swift ending to the game, but in retrospect, Stevens was just making the most of his opportunities.

I’m sure everyone here is sick of the griping by writers of the banalities of preseason. I’m sick of it too. It’s annoying to watch a game, and not be able to trust in any of our observations because a giant caveat looms over every event that takes place on the court. We can’t trust the play calls, the minute distribution, the lineup combinations. It’s annoying.

But preseason is a valuable tool for coaches to drill their players while the stakes are non-existent. Stevens’ goal wasn’t necessarily to help maximize the Celtics’ chances of winning. He called timeout because they were opportunities for his team to learn.

After the first timeout, Smart caught a quick hand-off from Kelly Olynyk and drove hard to the basket against a smaller defender in Lou Williams. Smart scored the layup and dutifully completed the and-one.

On the second, Boston ran a similar play. The ball was inbounded to Olynyk in the high post, and Marcus Thornton ran through a pair of pin-downs which trapped his defender Terrence Ross. Thornton then caught the hand-off from Olynyk and had it not been for Amir Johnson’s rotation off Olynyk and onto Thornton, the Celtics would have netted themselves another easy bucket.

The point of this is not to blow smoke up Stevens’s ass. He just did what he was supposed to in that situation. I was, however, disappointed with his counterpart Dwane Casey’s wasteful treatment of those same opportunities. On the Raptors’ final possession of the first half, Casey called a timeout to draw up a play, which amounted to nothing more than DeRozan taking the ball up the court and pulling up for a long two against Gerald Wallace. No screen, no movement. Nothing. DeRozan’s shot drew front iron.

Marcus Smart’s aggression

I like players like Smart who have a chip on their shoulder. They’re all over the court, trying to make every play, trying to deflect every pass, hounding ball-handlers up and down the court. It’s what endears us to Kyle Lowry.

Smart reminds me of a young Lowry. The bulldog mentality. The constant scowling. The sheer tenacity in getting to the basket because they have no jumpshot. It’s all there, except Smart stands at 6-foot-3, weighing 227 pounds.

Perhaps as the ultimate sign of respect, Smart actually managed to goad Lowry into a brief one-on-one battle, which culminated in Lowry landing in foul trouble for much of the game. This play in particular really summed up everything there is to know about Smart’s tenacity.

Keep at it, yungun. Of course, you come at the king, you best not miss. Lowry finished the game with 18 points, six assists and five steals to Smart’s nine-point, seven-assist effort.

Evan Turner and Marcus Thornton: Two-man trojan horse

Many pundits scratched their heads at the Celtics’ offseason additions. Taking on Thornton made sense — swallowing his salary added another pick to Boston’s saddle bag. But signing Turner, then playing him out of position at point guard was baffling to be sure. Why task a shooting guard who isn’t a good passer nor decision maker with ball-handling and distributing responsibilities?

Simple: to preserve Boston’s tankjob.

Turner, and to a lesser extent Thornton, aren’t useless players. When put into the right system with the right players, the two can prove to be useful, especially on offense. Turner has an uncanny ability to get to the hoop (albeit his touch around the basket is rather poor) and Thornton is a carbon-copy of J.R. Smith, capable of heating up enough to keep an entire offense afloat.

But on this team, with the way they’re being used, Turner and Thornton are liabilities, which is the plan. The rest of Boston’s players, although less talented, are disciplined to the point where if a few things go their way, Boston has a shot at making the playoffs, which would spoil Boston’s lottery odds. That’s where Turner and Thornton come in, masquerading as young veterans to safeguard Danny Ainge’s precious lottery balls, a play straight out of Greek history.

Match-ups

Predicting the outcome of preseason games is a silly practice. Assuming that the entire roster is healthy, the Raptors should come out on top.

One key to victory is the success of Patrick Patterson, who was highly effective off the bench, scoring 17 points on 7-of-11 shooting. His contributions helped make up for Lou Williams’ 2-for-10 shooting off-night. As long as the bench can produce enough after the starters reach their respective minute allocations, the Raptors will be fine.

But again, it’s preseason. As long as this game doesn’t end 81-76 like the last one against New York, we’re all winners.

]]>http://www.raptorsrepublic.com/2014/10/15/gameday-raptors-celtics-2/feed/13Preseason: Raptors Beat Celtics after Kyle Lowry Gets Serioushttp://www.raptorsrepublic.com/2014/10/11/preseason-raptors-beat-celtics-kyle-lowry-gets-serious/
http://www.raptorsrepublic.com/2014/10/11/preseason-raptors-beat-celtics-kyle-lowry-gets-serious/#commentsSat, 11 Oct 2014 12:45:17 +0000http://www.raptorsrepublic.com/?p=47252The Raptors were rather casual with the Celtics for most of the night, but when they decided to take things seriously, the Celtics had no chance.

There’s already a reaction post for this game which is all a pre-season game deserves, but there are traditions to follow so here goes a post-game report.

The Raptors beat the Celtics despite playing in a low gear for most of the evening. Dwane Casey extended Kyle Lowry to 31 minutes, including the full fourth quarter, to test out how he was coming along and the results were fantastic. Lowry hasn’t been going full throttle the first two games of the preseason, often drifting in and out of possessions and taking shots that seem to be born out of boredom rather than constructed out of rigour. Last night, though, it was a return to form for Lowry who inundated the Celtics with his tenacity and zeal for playing both sides of the court, as he manifested himself into the battering ram of a player he’s capable of being.

The question surrounding DeMar DeRozan and Jonas Valanciunas is whether they’re able to maintain the forward progress of the summer, and on both counts the matters are affirmative. DeRozan’s mid-range game looks more refined, and it has more to do with him simply practicing the jumper. He’s peeling off screens very well, going the right direction on the picks set for him, and making incisive decisions in favor of having lingering thoughts about what to do. There’s nobody on the Celtics, and certainly not Evan Turner, who can stay with DeRozan in a face-up or post-up situation. With his recent experiences as a ball-handler with Team USA, when sizing up the opposition he’s now able to see beyond just what his options are, but reflect on where on the court he needs to be to operate optimally for the pass out or the drop underneath. Looking past the lack of execution at times, you have to be pleased with the thought process DeRozan is displaying on offense. Defensively, he was never quite put to the test.

For Valanciunas, it’s all about converting Dwane Casey’s defensive message to action on the floor. His offense is definitely quicker and more deliberate, and in a game like this his size becomes an automatic factor on the offensive boards and in the block. However, it’s what he does defensively that will ultimately dictate his minutes since the coach isn’t shy about benching players who aren’t pulling their defensive weight. Watching this game, you would have noticed Valanciunas always trying to establish rebounding position on any shot that went up, and that’s something you may not have seen last year. Instead of vaguely pretending to be active on the boards, he’s trying to cut his way through players into the paint and it’s naturally causing disruption. He may not always get the boards, and may even look silly trying to maneuver against more coordinated players like he did last night, but he forces a defender (or even two) to box him out, opening up rebounding opportunities for guards venturing underneath the three-point line, or other bigs.

There’s also plenty to be pleased about some of the secondary players. Patrick Patterson looked to have recovered from his earlier injury issues as he picked up where left off from last season. The movement off the ball, the confident long-range jumper, and the controlled yet forceful drives to the rim were a welcome sign. At 25, he’s soon to be entering the prime of his career and if his improvements over the last 12 months are any indicator of the progress he’s doing to make over the next three years of his contract, Raptors fans have a lot to look forward to. People tend to forget that he’s also a capable defender who can move his feet, and as part of a second-unit that involves James Johnson, he can be a force on both ends.

Speaking of James Johnson, he’s gradually easing into his role of a floor stretcher, garbage man, and defensive specialist. He made a few attempts to come up with offensive rebounds by crashing in, and met with success a couple times. He tended to cut to the rim where he thought he had a chance, but with Greivis Vasquez operating and looking for a big to cut right down the middle, you could sense that Johnson didn’t want to get in the way of the play and hung on the perimeter instead of perhaps following his instinct. The positive is that he appears to know what his role on the team is, and if he sticks to that, there’s enough support on the team that his skills will shine through.

The same is true for Lou Williams, who despite going only 2-10, had a positive impact on the game due to his presence and reputation. He’s a player that teams have to respect, whether it be turning on a screen, pushing in transition, or simply stepping back for a jumper. When you look at the second unit, which has undergone a big change with Johnson and Williams stepping in, you have to feel positive about the balance on the court. The Celtics, missing two of their better players in Rondo and Green, aren’t exactly a measuring stick of any kind, so watching the Raptors second unit tilt and twist their defense isn’t indicative of too much. What we can take away from the game is Vasquez and Williams have an understanding of each other’s roles, and both being relative veterans instead of unbroken players, has a lot to do with it. There’s a balance of offense and defense in that unit, that if fine tuned, could produce some great results, especially when you throw in a starter (like we usually do) such as Terrence Ross into the mix. It should be noted that Vasquez was quite bothered by Pressey’s defense (great name for a defender, BTW) because he didn’t expect Brad Steven’s side to show that kind of pressure that early. This isn’t concerning because we’ve seen Vasquez excel in negotiating this kind of pressure to good effect.

Ross’s ball-handing isn’t necessarily better so far this season, it’s that that area of his game seems to have been made a focus by Dwane Casey. We saw him be the primary ball-handler on offense with Lowry and DeRozan on the court, and he did well to handle Avery Bradley’s pressure, and allowed Kyle Lowry to play off the ball, thus increasing the latter’s three-point threat. The main benefit of Ross assuming this role is that it gives the defense a look that they may not have been used to during the course of the game, and when you present something like this in the fourth quarter, it forces the opposing team to make an adjustment. It’s like a card in Casey’s hand which, I’m sure, he’d love to play more often. Sort of reminds me when Phil Jackson used to surprise teams with Toni Kukoc at the point, or a more recent example might be Manu Ginobili handling point-guard duties,

Defense is one of the last things to come around because that’s where the need for communication is the highest. So, when I see Valanciunas being unaware of a cutting guard, or a guard not dropping down to help on a beaten big, or Williams trailing a screen instead of anticipating it, I’m not too worried. I have some faith in Dwane Casey that he can instil the required rigour in his players, and that over time we’ll see the weaknesses of players concealed, and their strengths emboldened. The Raptors did allow the Celtics to shoot 49% on the night and 50% from three-point line including 14 threes, which is poor. Too many players were beaten in one-on-one situations, and the confusion on perimeter and interior coverage responsibilities was blatantly evident, but that’s exactly what preseason’s for. I’d rather the Raptors go .500 in pre-season and identify their weak points rather than go undefeated thinking they’re infallible.

There was no Bruno Caboclo, Jordan Hamilton, Will Cherry or Greg Steimsma (concussion) and I’m sure all will feature in New York on Monday. To sum it up, this was a night where the Raptors were rather casual with the Celtics for most of the night, but when they decided to take things seriously, the Celtics had no chance.

I’m very impressed by Brad Stevens. His team was very well-coached, and executed a concerted strategy on both ends of the floor. He also used timeouts and late quarter scenarios to practice running sets.

The Raptors, by comparison, looked rather sloppy on defense, and wasted a few opportunities to practice plays. For example, Casey called a timeout at the end of the first half only to run a straight iso for DeMar. Why does that even need to be practiced?

Marcus Smart reminds me of a larger version of young Kyle Lowry. Dogged competitor, a bit of a bully, and can’t shoot yet.

Kelly Olynyk can only shoot the three if he does a little hop first. It’s a tell that gives his intentions away.

For a preseason game, there was a lot of excitement. Good crowd, all things considered.

Amir Johnson, PF25 MIN | 5-9 FG | 3-6 FT | 8 REB | 1 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 13 PTS | -2Old Mr. Reliable, get him the ball within 5-feet of the rim in a two-man situation, and he invariably knows how to contort and maneuver his body into getting a score. You could take this game and project it out to the rest of the season, and that’s how he’ll go. Slight confusion on the defensive coverage against driving guards, but that was a general issue and not limited to him. Unfortunately, he remains the most under-used pick ‘n roll option on the team, and I long for the time when Vasquez and him develop a chemistry that he had with Calderon. It’s coming, I know it. He also undressed Kelly Olynyk.

Terrence Ross, SF28 MIN | 3-6 FG | 0-0 FT | 5 REB | 2 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 8 PTS | -4Lots ‘o ball-handling. Clearly Dwane Casey sees him as a way to utilize Lowry off the ball, much like he used Vasquez last year. The good thing about Ross is that he tends to keep his head up when dribbling (because he’s confident in his handles), which makes him more available to make passes and create. If he continues on this improvement trajectory, there’s little reason to believe that he can’t be an effective point-forwardish option. He’s more active defensively too, often calling out other players into position and taking more of a leadership role on defense than being a bystander.

Jonas Valanciunas, C22 MIN | 5-7 FG | 1-2 FT | 9 REB | 1 AST | 0 STL | 1 BLK | 4 TO | 11 PTS | -7Did well not to get shoved off the block and used his size well in rebounding positions. Sullinger proved a bit of a problem and Jonas adjusted well to take away the angles instead of conceding the open jumper. Working very hard defensively and you can tell by the rebounding numbers. Offensively, sound against a Boston frontline that doesn’t offer a tremendous amount of resistance. So far, he’s on course. Here’s him getting a nice put-back.

Kyle Lowry, PG31 MIN | 6-12 FG | 4-5 FT | 3 REB | 6 AST | 5 STL | 0 BLK | 3 TO | 18 PTS | +16Struggled with the shot early until he looked at the scoreboard, looked at who they were playing, and decided enough is enough. He’s so much better than who he was going up against that it was only a question of whether he wanted to expend that energy to pull this game though. In the second half, he did, and there was nothing Marcus Smart or even the excellent Avery Bradley could to to keep up with his aggressive spin moves and disruptive defense.

DeMar DeRozan, SG23 MIN | 6-16 FG | 4-6 FT | 3 REB | 3 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 18 PTS | +5I’m not cringing when he shoots the long-two because it looks like it’s got some lift, and it happens to go in. Was a bit indecisive in some post-up situations against Turner, but has enough fade and arch in his release that he’s still able to get a clean look off. You couldn’t say that in previous years. Going to the rim was never a problem, and he did hit two threes which made me happy. He’s coming along nicely and pacing himself really well ahead of the season opener. Even when things aren’t working out for him, things end up working out.

Tyler Hansbrough, PF23 MIN | 1-2 FG | 0-0 FT | 2 REB | 2 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 2 PTS | +5In a fluid team like the Raptors, Hansbrough stands out like a sore thumb. Not necessarily in a bad way, just that he tends to be rather awkward in anything he does. He basically ran up and down the floor with great zeal and vigour, only to do nothing, and I figure it’s because the pace of this game and the matchup against Olynk and Sullinger is a bit much for him. One is just bigger, the other has one too many step-back moves.

James Johnson, PF21 MIN | 3-6 FG | 0-0 FT | 6 REB | 2 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 2 TO | 6 PTS | +7What a pleasant surprise, he’s doing everything as advertised. Not being annoying, not making silly faces, just playing ball without hogging it. I wish I could just project this game over the rest of the season for him. His defense and off-the-ball movement in the fourth was key to the comeback.. Well done.

Patrick Patterson, PF21 MIN | 7-11 FG | 0-0 FT | 7 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 17 PTS | +18Fantastic in the first half, where his energy invigorated the team. The matchups suited him as he got to play on the perimeter outside-in, and hit a couple threes while always moving well without the ball. With his talent and effort levels, only good things can happen.

Greivis Vasquez, PG20 MIN | 5-7 FG | 0-0 FT | 2 REB | 4 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 13 PTS | -11Bit shoddy defensively in the second quarter but other than that, it was regularly scheduled programming. He’s so predictable on offense yet remains extremely effective. The floater is in effect and so is his vision, and his ability to pass over the defense on account of his height can’t be overstated.

Louis Williams, SG26 MIN | 2-10 FG | 6-7 FT | 1 REB | 3 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 10 PTS | +8Suspect in the first three quarters, better in the fourth. He’s missing his floaters and runners, but you just know that’s a question of coming back from injury and finding your rhythm and place. Much like Vasquez, suspect defensively in that second quarter but worked really well on offense as part of the bench unit that you have to think that good things are abound.

Dwane Casey
Managing minutes well. The plan was to give the starters a lot of minutes today to get some rhythm going (as confirmed by Lowry in the post-game interview), and reduce them in later games. A bit disappointed not to see any of Caboclo, Hamilton, etc., but hey, we got to see the “real” lineup for an extended period, so thank you. The team needs to figure things out defensively, especially when guards are driving as there’s lots of confusion on who has to drop down and who has to stick to the wing. Early days.

Five Things We Saw

Casey extended the starters to get as much of a “real” game simulation as possible, and the results were great. Whenever the Raptors were trying in this game, they were able to do what they wanted with ease.

The second-unit offense was quite fluid with Vasquez running things and flanked by James Johnson and Patrick Patterson. Even though Williams didn’t have a great shooting night, going 2-10, his presence on the court opens up the defense creating space for Vasquez to operate and dissect.

Have to be happy with the +10 rebounding, something the team should make a point of emphasis this year, especially against teams that don’t have great frontlines. They ended up taking 11 more shots than the Celtics which is significant, and that’s also partially due to them forcing 16 turnovers and committing only 11.

Lowry’s defensive impact was evident in the fourth quarter. He’s so aggressive on the perimeter that he’s bound to cause havoc, and when he has Valanciunas and Johnson in position to cover for him, it affords him the defensive freedom he loves. Some props need to go out to Hansbrough as well for sticking to his position on defense instead of coming out to trap without reason, thus maintaining the balance on the floor.

The Raptors went through stretches where they didn’t look good defensively, and I think when you have Williams and Vasquez on the floor at the same time, it’s going to happen. The key is to maintain efficient offense during those stretches and have enough help defense on the floor. Casey definitely needs to tune his second-unit defensively, and I think this is where someone like Steimsma will really help (can’t believe I wrote that), or even a healthy Bebe (if he does end up panning out).

]]>http://www.raptorsrepublic.com/2014/10/10/quick-reaction-celtics-109-raptors-116/feed/50Preview: Celtics at Raptorshttp://www.raptorsrepublic.com/2014/10/10/preview-celtics-raptors/
http://www.raptorsrepublic.com/2014/10/10/preview-celtics-raptors/#commentsFri, 10 Oct 2014 13:00:05 +0000http://www.raptorsrepublic.com/?p=47224The pre-season grind trudges on. On Friday, the Boston Celtics (2-0) will face the Toronto Raptors (1-1) at the Air Canada Centre (7:30 p.m. NBA TV) . Yours truly will be in attendance, courtesy of blogfather Zarar, sitting perched in the upper bowl. First, a state of affairs for the Celtics, who have fallen on... Read more »

On Friday, the Boston Celtics (2-0) will face the Toronto Raptors (1-1) at the Air Canada Centre (7:30 p.m. NBA TV) . Yours truly will be in attendance, courtesy of blogfather Zarar, sitting perched in the upper bowl.

First, a state of affairs for the Celtics, who have fallen on hard times since making the gut-wrenching decision to rebuild by trading Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce in 2012. The only remaining core piece of their former championship roster is Rajon Rondo, who recently broke his hand. The injury will sideline him for the next two months, providing broadcast crews plenty of opportunities to pan over to a despondent Rondo audibly counting down the days until the trade deadline.

Without Rondo, the Celtics’ roster looks much like their 2013-14 iteration, one that won just 25 games. Their roster is light on NBA-quality talent, as swingman Jeff Green and Avery Bradley represent their most name-worthy players. Green and Bradley are fine players, certainly useful in their own right, but are ill-fitting for the part of leading man.

Past that, the Celtics trot out an assortment of fading and faded stars. That includes Evan Turner — who is being trotted out at point guard; makes sense, he’s not good at dribbling or making the right pass — and a washed-up version of Gerald Wallace. There’s also Marcus Thornton, who has bounced around the league since being a useful gunner off the bench in New Orleans between 2009-2011. Brandon Bass is still floating around, serving as a three-pointer-less version of Patrick Patterson and Joel Anthony inexplicably still has claim to a roster spot in the NBA.

What the Celtics are banking on, however, is not for solid contributions from their veterans. It’s the opposite. Boston is hoping for their veterans to flop, but to provide just enough value to serve as desirable trade fodder so the Celtics can continue with their rebuild.

They’re off to a decent start with a few quality prospects. The crown jewel is this year’s sixth overall pick Marcus Smart, a heady alpha lead guard laying in-wait for Rondo to vacate his spot in the starting lineup. Smart has good size and posted impressive numbers at Oklahoma State.

The problem, however, is that the Celtics lack more talent with the ability to develop into (wait for it…) transcendent players. Tyler Zeller has potential as a third big on a decent team. Jared Sullinger is an intriguing mix of girth and shooting, but will most likely remain too big of a liability to stick as a starter long-term. Vitor Faverani could one day develop into a gigantic version of Tas Melas of the Starters. Dwight Powell is intriguing as a versatile forward, but he’s a second-round pick. James Young can’t (yet) shoot enough to stick as a wing. Kelly Olynyk is certainly skilled as a center prospect, but will most likely remain too slow to not be a massive liability on defense, a Spencer Hawes redux of sorts.

Guards – Raptors

DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry scored a combined 48 points for the Raptors in their recent loss to Sacramento. The pairing represents one of the most formidable backcourt combinations in the league.

The Celtics have Evan Turner at point guard.

Wings – Even

At the time writing (Thursday afternoon), an update on Terrence Ross’ health has not been put out by the team, so going with rule of preseason, I’ll assume he’s sitting out. That leaves Landry Fields, James Johnson and a surprisingly decent Jordan Hamilton holding down the fort. Not exactly the most inspiring collection of wings.

The Celtics counter with a solid scorer in Green and their own version of Fields in Wallace (insert obligatory ‘Where’s Wallace?!’ joke here). This is a good test for James Johnson’s purported ability to defend larger wings, as Green is a solid 6-foot-8, 240-pounds.

Bigs – Raptors

Not having Patrick Patterson is going to hurt. The Celtics’ bigs aren’t shutdown defenders by any means, but they’re disciplined and stay at home on defense, meaning the Raptors may encounter resistance in their efforts to crack the paint without a floor stretcher. This also isn’t a great game for either Chuck Hayes or Greg Stiemsma as the Celtics lack a dominant inside presence — barring Sullinger exploding for another 20-20 game — so this would theoretically be a good time to #FreeBebe. Or, maybe it isn’t because Bebe has a minor injury of sorts. Should Bebe be put in the corner? No one puts Bebe in the corner. What are you even reading?

Bench – Raptors

If the Celtics’ starters are Turner-Smart-Bradley-Sullinger-Olynyk, just imagine how putrid the bench must be. The Raptors aren’t looking so hot with Lou Williams and Greivis Vasquez reduced to hoisting bombs without an offensively viable big to play pick-and-roll with, but there’s enough talent to trump Boston’s collection of prospects.

Prediction: ???????????

Remember Whose Line is it Anyway? Yeah, the points don’t matter. It’s preseason.

]]>As the result of a horrible DVR tragedy, I was denied the ability to see this game in it’s entirety. That mean’s an early call to the bullpen, where Zarar Siddiqi and William Lou were gracious enough to come in and pitch a couple innings of relief. This is post-game report by committee, with each of us focusing in on one thing that we took away from last night.

Andrew Thompson:

Learning about last night’s 2-point win over the Celtics didn’t exactly buoy me with confidence at first glance. You’d like to see a team gearing up for an extended playoff run taking it to the lottery teams (like Miami’s evisceration of Detroit last night) down the stretch, rather than squeezing out a last second win at home. But try not to jump to conclusions, as I first did, because the final score doesn’t tell the story that’s worth pulling from this game.

The Celtic’s are not a great team. But these Celtics might be amongst the best teams in the league to have lost 49 games that they’ve managed to make interesting late. Nobody will ever remember that about the 2013-2014 Celtics, but it’s been strangely true. Very well crafted tanking. The point in bringing this up is to note that while the Raptor’s have had a bad habit of coasting against non-playoff teams and losing or almost losing games in the process, this is not an example. The Celtic’s got inexplicably hot shooting when they needed it, and they’ve also got a Rondo-Bradley-Green trio who can play shut-down defense on almost anyone for stretches of time. So resist the temptation to assume that this game was close because of a bad character effort from the Raptors. It was very much the opposite. In grinding out a win that felt like it mattered just as much for the players on the floor as it did for the 19,000 people celebrating on the TV footage that refused to properly save on my DVR, the Raptor’s demonstrated exactly the kind of chutzpah they’ll need in late April (when I strongly recommend that all of you do whatever you have to do to watch playoff games in real-time. Technology cannot be trusted.).

There’s something particularly encouraging about what the way the Raptors eked out this win says about their season. This game came down to 4th quarter execution, heads-up hustle plays, improved team defense and the Raptor’s ability to create points off of turnovers. Those are four of the most important things a team needs to do to make a run in the playoffs. In clinching their first playoff berth in six years last night, the Raptor’s executed on all four fronts.

The Raptors showed that this is no accident born out of Eastern Conference mediocrity. The last time Toronto made the playoffs back in 2008 it was in an “It’s an honour just to be nominated” but we know we’re not going to win kind of way. But this team is poised for something different. To borrow a soon to be incredibly tired phrase from every talking head on TV/radio talking about the playoffs, this is a team that nobody is going to want to play. Which means that we should all be excited to watch.

Zarar Siddiqi:

When, with the game tied, DeMar DeRozan’s layup in transition was sent into the first row by Jeff Green, I lamented the missed opportunity and wondered aloud just why DeRozan never finishes stronger when it counts. Moments later, he used those oft-maligned handles to fake Green inside and pull back out for a soft fade which put the Raptors up two. That sequence was a microcosm of DeRozan’s season in that he was more effective than spectacular. In the post-game interview, the relief and sense of accomplishment was evident. This was a playoff berth that was achieved organically, not through some marquee free-agent signing, nor on the backs of a “superstar”, but though a team coming together when nobody had expected them to, perhaps not even the GM.

The game also featured another moment, maybe one of learning and recognition for Dwane Casey. Casey, who isn’t prone to use offense/defense-specific subs late in games, chose to leave in Greivis Vasquez with the Raptors protecting a two-point lead with seconds left. Rondo, quite easily, took it right at him and scored. After Amir Johnson’s athletic put-back off a Kyle Lowry miss gave the Raptors a two-point lead, Casey didn’t repeat the mistake and put in John Salmons instead of Vasquez. The Celtics ended up shooting a tough, running, three-pointer that didn’t have a chance.

Allowing the Celtics back into the game when they were on the ropes at the end of the third wasn’t so much a lapse in concentration as it was Jerryd Bayless having one of those spells where he starts hitting anything and everything. As he was drilling one-on-one threes I had flashbacks to that game in Detroit when the Raptors came back from 35 down, mostly due to Bayless. If you’re interested, Bayless happens to be on his fifth team in six seasons (including two stints in Memphis) and is a free-agent this summer; it honestly feels that the Raptors face him 23 times a season somehow. On a pizza-perfect night at the ACC it’s hard to dwell on a furious but ultimately futile Celtics comeback, except that the Raptors do have some cleaning up to do before the post-season, regardless of who and where they play.

William Lou:

The biggest knock on Jonas Valanciunas’ performance after last season was his defensive short-comings.

That criticism was entirely fair — his defense was sub-par. He often looked lost in rotation, he was foul-happy, and the referees rarely extended to the bumbling big the benefit of the doubt. Also, he was only 20 years old, and his name isn’t Anthony Davis, which meant that his struggles were to be expected.

Flip the calendar to his sophomore season. Valanciunas is still under the spotlight, and we’re still nit-picking every move he makes. We change our minds, and recalibrate our hopes with each step on his journey. We invested heavily in Jonas’ stock, and we’re constantly clutching the phone, sweaty palms in hand, ready at a moment’s notice to dump, or to hold. We can’t help it — it’s our curse as fans.

But Jonas’ development isn’t for us. It’s for himself, and it’s for the Raptors. It’s not going to be linear. Rather, it will come out in spurts. Sometimes, the difference between his mid-season struggles, and his present-day success, is really as simple as simplifying the game, as Bill Bayno has done with his cheat sheet (h/t Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca). It’s a thin line between failure and success.

And at times, we’re rewarded with a glimpse into the future; some sustenance for our surety. For example, today was the first time I’ve been left in awe of Jonas’ defensive ability. Roll the clip:

Why did this play stick out to me? Because Jonas did everything perfectly. First, he does a good job hedging Bayless on the pick-and-roll. He cuts off the sideline, and Bayless is forced to move away from Sullinger, and towards the middle. Notice how high up Jonas is on this trap:

After Bayless gets towards the middle, he manages to throw the ball over-top of Ross into Sullinger’s hands. However, despite hedging so hard on the initial action, Jonas is able to recover in time, and positions himself perfectly. He leaves enough space to guard Sullinger on a potential move towards the middle, while also making himself available on a closeout.

Turns out, Sullinger decided to drive, rather than spot-up. Jonas does a good job there by funneling him towards the middle, where help defense is available in the form of Amir Johnson. However, Jonas is able to parlay his quickness and length into an effective contest on Sullinger without Amir’s help. This is key because Amir is free to box out Olynyk on the weak side. Without fouling, Jonas stays with Sullinger on every step of his drive, and forces him into an extremely tough shot over a taller defender.

Finally, to top it all off, Jonas collects the defensive rebound, protects it at first, then hits up Lowry for the pass. Kyle is then able to take it the length of the court in transition for a layup. That right there is a perfect defensive possession from a 21 year old center. How about them apples, eh?